Electrical fixture mounting assemblies are known for mounting an electrical fixture to a support such as a wall or ceiling. A commonly used support is a brace that extends between a pair of ceiling joists for mounting a fixture such as a light fixture or ceiling fan. The brace is generally designed to be inserted through an aperture in the ceiling and then mounted between parallel ceiling joists. The mounting bracket is then inserted through the aperture in the ceiling and positioned on or attached to the brace. An electrical box is then inserted into a ceiling and attached to the brace and bracket by suitable fasteners.
The disadvantage of typical electrical fixture mounting assemblies is that the bracket is not securely attached to the brace so that the bracket can move or separate from the brace during installation of the electrical box. Bringing the electrical box into contact with the brace can separate the bracket from the brace or move the bracket to a position off center with the aperture in the ceiling thereby preventing proper mounting of the electrical box.
Another disadvantage of existing electrical fixture mounting assemblies is the difficulty of aligning and securing the electrical box to the bracket. The mounting assembly is generally inserted through a small aperture in the ceiling so that the workspace is severely limited. The installer relies more on a sense of touch than sight to properly align the electrical box with the bracket. Many of the existing mounting assemblies do not enable proper alignment of the electrical box with the bracket for convenient installation and attachment of the electrical box. The mounting bracket can be easily moved out of proper alignment so that the electrical box cannot be connected to the bracket. These problems make installing an electrical fixture mounting assembly in a ceiling a time-consuming and difficult process.
Another disadvantage of the existing mounting assemblies is that the bracket when attached to the electrical box overlies or obstructs the knockouts or access openings in the bottom wall of the electrical box. This limits the ability of the installer to attach the electrical wiring to the electrical box through the bottom of the electrical box.
One example of a mounting assembly for ceiling fixtures is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,497 to Johnson et al, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The mounting assembly includes an expandable brace having an outer cylindrical tube and a threaded inner rod so that rotation of the tube with respect to the rod expand or contract the brace in a linear direction. A mounting bracket having a pair of dimples is attached to the brace to hold the bracket in position while the electrical box is being attached to the bracket.
Other examples of electrical fixture mounting assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,943 to Dinh et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,026 to Deschamps et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,304 to Jorgensen, U.S. Pat. No. 1,754,849 to Clayton and U.S. Pat. No. 1,622,087 to Calderwood.
The above noted mounting assemblies are generally suitable for their intended purpose. However, there is a continuing need in the industry for improved electrical fixture mounting assemblies.